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What God Feels

Read: Mark 8

“I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat.”  (Mark 8:2, NLT)

Does God have feelings?  Does he feel sadness, compassion or hurt for the things that make people cry?  Does he ever feel happy and laugh at the funny things people do?  Does he swell with pride, brag about his kids, delight when they come for a visit?  Does he feel all these emotions over me?

I am on pretty sure Scriptural grounds, I believe, in answering “yes” to the above questions. Yes, God feels, and among the loads of Biblical evidence to the affirmative, all you have to do is look at Jesus, the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15, NLT), to see that God has a wide range of emotions. God the Son cried, was angry, expressed wild joyfulness, and felt deep compassion for the hurts and needs of people. Yes, God is emotional. And we humans, who were made in the image of God, had to get our emotional capacity from somewhere; we came by it supernaturally.

In the story of Jesus feeding the 4,000, this outstanding miracle arose out of the concern and compassion the Lord had on the people who had been hanging around, listening to his teaching, waiting to be touched, hoping for a miracle, for three days.  They were so hungry to encounter God that they had neglected their physical appetites. And since Jesus was about to send them home, he was worried that they would become faint along the way. So he arranged for one of the greatest impromptu lunches of all time, and the crowds left happy and full.

Jesus felt for them—he feels for you, too. So does his Father. And though you might think that is pretty common knowledge, in truth, that is not how most of the rest of the world sees it. You see, for most of our history, man has viewed the universe as dangerous and the gods as hostile.  The gods didn’t care about humans and they certainly gave no thought to serving them—humans existed to serve and please the gods, not vice versa. G.E. Lessing, an 18th century scholar from Germany said if he had one question to ask the gods, it would be, “Is this a friendly universe?” You can be certain that this universe is indeed a friendly, perfectly safe place for you because of your Father’s closeness, care and competence. Jesus said so, and he showed so!  Both the Father and the Son teamed up to prove it. As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:32,

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

If you ever wonder if Gods feels—either for you, or for the rest of the world—just take another look at that cross where the Father sacrificed his Son. You will never again doubt how much God feels for you.

“We sometimes fear to bring our troubles to God, because they must seem so small to Him who sits on the circle of the earth. But if they are large enough to vex and endanger our welfare, they are large enough to touch His heart of love.” ~R.A. Torrey

What If God Took Over?

Memorize Isaiah 49:15-16, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

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The Greatest Virtue

Read: Mark 7

Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue. Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said … “Be opened!” Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly! (Mark 7:33-35, NLT)

It would be normal for us to focus on the unusual healing methods Jesus employed to heal this man with deaf ears and tied tongue.  What a strange thing—Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears, then apparently, removed them, spit on them and then touched his tongue.

Yikes!  I’m glad Jesus wasn’t setting a pattern for praying for the sick today.  What Jesus did for this man—or more accurately, how Jesus prayed for this man—has nothing over some of the strange antics and overt showiness of some of today’s so called faith healers.

But don’t miss the first thing Jesus did when this poor man’s friends brought him to Jesus for prayer: He pulled the man aside so he could minister to him in private.  Obviously, Jesus didn’t want his methodology to be the thing the crowd focused on.  Nor did he want to turn this man into a sideshow or use him as a trophy that could build a greater following for Jesus.  The Lord never used people in that way, so he simply, quietly healed the man in the most respectful way possible.

So why the weird methods?  I’m not really sure, since Jesus could have simply spoke a word and the man would have been healed.  But he had his reasons, and the bottom line was a man who had been victimized by this horrible physical bondage was miraculously, fully and gratefully set free.

Nor should we miss the greater message behind this event.  It is a message, in fact, that runs throughout the entirety of Mark 7.  What is that message? It is that God values “humility”.  It is the lack of humility that frames the opening encounter between the religious elite and Jesus. When the scribes and Pharisees criticize Jesus and his disciples for not observing the man-made minutiae of the Jewish Law, Jesus rebukes them for their arrogant, manipulative and abusive misapplication of God’s true law.

On the other hand, it is the presence of humility that moves Jesus to respond to the woman who comes to him to get her daughter delivered from a demon.  Jesus initially puts this Syro-Phoenician lady through her paces in order to bring out her faith—actually telling her she doesn’t deserve to be healed (really—check out Mark 7:27, NLT). But the woman, who is from a much wealthier, more prestigious culture than this simple, uncouth Galilean, won’t take “no” for an answer, so she humbly makes her request of Jesus, who grants gladly grants it.

Then, as we’ve seen with the healing of the deaf man with a speech impediment, Jesus rejects any form of showiness by doing in private what God does—restoring not only hearing to deaf ears but dignity to the human soul.

Nothing turns God off like arrogance.  And nothing turns God on like humility.  That’s because nothing is closer to the core of God’s character than humility, which the Apostle Paul reminds us of in Philippians 2:1-11 through the example of Jesus. That is why humility is arguably the greatest virtue.

The next time you see an arrogant religious leader in action, turn off the TV or turn around and walk away if you are in their presence.  Next time you see a person humbly appeal for help, turn toward and humbly serve them as the Servant would.  And the next time you’re tempted to think, feel, act or speak in any manner other that true humility, go back and read Mark 7.

“In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” ~Paul (Philippians 2:3-4)

What If God Took Over?

Ask God to reveal any form of pride that may reside in your life and remove it from you.  Then humble yourself before him and ask for his help in exhibiting the attitude of humility exemplified by Jesus.

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What Jesus Can Teach You

Read: Mark 6

Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. (Mark 6:34, NLT)

Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, had just been beheaded, and most likely, Jesus was grieving John’s loss when he suggested to his disciples, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” (Mark 6:31, NLT)  Of course, both Jesus and his disciples were in an incredibly busy season of ministry and the needs of the crowds were emotionally draining, but add the sorrow of this personal loss to an already demanding situation and you have the perfect storm of spiritual and emotional exhaustion.

Yet when the needy crowds found Jesus in his place of retreat, he responded in a way most of us would find impossible under such an exhausted state: He has compassion on them. He saw their need.  He saw their vulnerability—they were like shepherd-less sheep, unprotected, unfed, unguided. So Jesus tapped into a source of inner reserve of grace and “began teaching them many things.” (Mark 6:34, NLT) Then he performed one of the outstanding miracles of the Bible by feeding “five thousand men and their families” from five loaves of bread and two fish. (Mark 6:41-44, NLT) And, as if he needed to do anything else to prove his deity, Jesus topped it all off by walking on the water. (Mark 6:47-52, NLT)

So what are we to make of all this, other than Jesus was not only a great guy, but without a doubt, God come in the flesh?  Let me offer three things for you to consider:

First, Jesus’ compassion for people reveals the heart of God for you.  If Jesus could set aside his own emotional grief and physical tiredness to minister to hurting, hungry and helpless people, you can be certain that nothing will get in the way of him coming to your aid, too.

Second, Jesus’ willingness to find a place of retreat to refresh the tired spirits of both he and his disciples is a reminder that you, too, ought to honor the rhythm of renewal the Creator has hardwired into your DNA.  If even the Son of God got tired, if even the Creator of the Universe rested from his work on the seventh day, perhaps you’re not so important and indispensable to interrupt your busyness to renew yourself once in a while.  Rest is an act of worship that honors your Designer.

Third, Jesus’ willingness to interrupt his grief and take a time out from his time out to minister to hurting people shows that the best therapy for what ails you is to find someone worse off than you and serve them. God never calls you to deny your pain or ignore your woundedness, but at some point, serving others is God’s prescription for our own recovery.

Mark 6:34 ends by saying, “Jesus began teaching them many things.” He can teach you a few things, too!

What a person should do if he felt a “nervous breakdown” coming on? “Lock up your house, go across the railroad tracks, find someone in need, and do something for them.” ~Karl Menninger

What If God Took Over?

No matter what you are facing today, God’s therapy is the cure for what ails you.  So which of these three things that Jesus teaches you do you most need to lean into today?  Do you simply need to marinate in God’s compassionate love for you? Do you need to honor the Creator’s rhythm of renewal?  Or do you need to find someone worse off than you and do something for them?  Whatever God shows you to do, just do it!

 

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When Jesus Speaks

Read: Mark 5

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” (Mark 5:18-19, NLT)

What an amazing story this is!  A man is in such complete bondage to so many demons that they call themselves “Legion”—which literally meant thousands. This demonized man roams the hills, barking mad, terrorizing the locals, and is so supernaturally strong by the power of Satan that no one can subdue him.  Yet with just a word from Jesus, the stunned demonic powers flee and their pitiful victim is free.

You just gotta love when Jesus speaks, because things happen!

In the most dramatic fashion, this story paints a picture of the awful reality of Satanic dominion, and, more importantly, of the matchless, irresistible power of One greater than Satan, Jesus! What an encouraging reminder that there is One who speaks and demons flee, who speaks and minds are healed, who speaks and hope is restored, who speaks and a future is birthed.

You just gotta love when Jesus speaks, because life gets set straight!

But that’s not the end of this incredible tale. Jesus actually carries on a conversation with the demons—which was not a pattern he was setting for future deliverance ministries, mind you—and the suddenly evicted hoard of demons request new residence in a herd of pigs.  And Jesus obliges them!

You just gotta love when Jesus speaks, because devils submit!

But wait—there’s more. A man has just been set free from the most awful prison of insanity and hopelessness, so now he wants to give the rest of his life to following and serving this Great Emancipator. However, in a stroke of Divine kindness, Jesus sends him back to his family, which no doubt has long ago given up on their son. Jesus doesn’t parade him a around as a trophy of his healing ministry like some so-called “faith healers” would most likely do today, he just quietly sends him back to the ones whose years of tears and hours of prayers will now be rewarded with unbridled joy.

You just gotta love when Jesus speaks, because relationships are restored!

But best of all, Jesus reminds this man—and you and me, by extension—that the real story here is not the sensational encounter with the legion of demons, nor the extraordinary deliverance of the Gadarene demoniac, and not even the dramatic swan dive of the swine off the Galilean cliffs. No, the real story here is how merciful God is: “Go tell how merciful he has been.” Whether you are a Gadarene demonic or just a garden-variety sinner disguised as a church-going saint, this story is a powerful reminder that the only and best hope you have is the mercy of God.

Truly, you just just gotta love when Jesus speaks and mercy flows.

“There is mercy with the Lord; this should encourage the miserable to approach Him; this informs the fearful that they need bring nothing to induce Him to bless them; this calls upon backsliders to return to Him; and this is calculated to cheer the tried Christian, under all his troubles and distresses. Remember, mercy is like God, it is infinite and eternal. Mercy is always on the throne. Mercy may be obtained by any sinner.” ~Charles Spurgeon

What If God Took Over?

Jesus told the man delivered from demons to go home to his family and tell them all that God had done and how merciful he had been.  Since God has been both kind and merciful to you, should you do that, too?  Tell that to someone today.

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2,000 Years and Going Strong

Read: Mark 4

“…And finally the grain ripens.” (Mark 4:28, NLT)

Jesus spent a fair amount of time in both private settings and public presentations describing the kingdom of God to people.  One of the compelling ways he did that was through stories—parables—earthy vignettes that revealed spiritual truth about God, heaven and the kingdom life. Jesus did that because people’s understanding of God’s kingdom had gotten messed up over the thousands of years since God first called the tribes of Israel out of Egypt and fashioned them into a people for himself. So through parables, he reminded them of what God and his rule was really like.

Of the many wonderful descriptions Jesus gave, we find two stories about seeds in Mark 4:26-34 that describe the amazing, unstoppable growth of God’s kingdom on Planet Earth: The parable of the growing seed and the parable of the mustard seed.  The point of both is that when the seed—the Word of God—is faithfully planted in good soil—the hearts of open and hungry people—the rule of God will begin to grow.  Little by little, imperceptibly, over time the kingdom begins to expand, dominate and even perpetuate itself until it becomes a major, irresistible, governing force in individual lives, whole families, communities, and entire people groups.

I hope that encourages you—it does me!  Sometimes we get frustrated by the lack of growth of God’s kingdom in our lives, or our churches, or perhaps by what we may perceive as a falling away from the rule of God in our nation.  To be sure, there are enemies and forces that not only oppose the kingdom, but are actively working to kill it off. The truth is, the growth of the kingdom is not an easy thing because there is a very strong Enemy whose chief objective is to stop it. Satan is alive and well on God’s planet, and he will be a force to be reckoned with until his time is up.

However, at the end of the day, the kingdom of God is unstoppable.  People who claim to follow God may come and go, churches that once thrived may plateau, decline or perhaps even close their doors; denominations will rise and fall; nations will wander from the guiding principles that once made them a godly nation—and you might even find your own passion for the rule of God waxing and waning a bit.  Yet the kingdom of God is doing just fine after 2,000 years since Jesus gave it its start.  What began with twelve unlikely fishermen from Galilee has spread around the world to hundreds of millions today who have joyfully surrendered to God’s rule—and it shows no signs of abating.

So don’t get discouraged, my friend.  You may not be able to see the seed growing, but it is—and it will. You may never see the end result, but that does not diminish the seed’s potential. Just keep planting that seed wherever you can.  Water the soil—in your own life, in your family, your circle of influence and at your church.  Keep the weeds pulled—it is a constant battle because the Enemy keeps sneaking into the field to sow tares.

Just stay faithful to the kingdom, don’t lose heart and never give up.  You have a stake in something that is truly, indescribably amazing—and the full results of its growth will not be known until the other side of eternity.

Yes, the grain will finally ripen!

“The seed once sown grows…of itself, from its own impulse and power of life….The self-inherent power of growth of the kingdom of God.” ~Rudolph Stier

What If God Took Over?

Recommit your life to the kingdom of God today—especially if you have become discouraged by its lack of growth in your own life or its waning vitality in your church or some other circle of concern—by praying this prayer:  “Heavenly Father, may your kingdom come, may your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever! Amen.”

 

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Weekend Meditation: Christ’s Outrageous Claim

Read: Mark 2-3

Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”  (Mark 2:5-7, NLT)

“Who is Jesus, really?” That’s a great question.  In fact, it is the question of questions—a question that every human being will have to answer in this life, or in the next.

Here is what I believe about Jesus: I believe in his deity, in his virgin birth, in his sinless life, in his miracles, in his vicarious and atoning death through the blood he shed on the cross, in his bodily resurrection from the dead, in his ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in his personal return in power and glory some day—hope very soon.

Now where did I come up with all those outlandish assertions about Jesus?  Well, from Jesus himself.  Throughout the Gospels, he made some pretty outrageous claims about himself—including the one quoted above from Mark 2:5-7 when he told the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven.

Jesus was clearly claiming Divine status, since only God has the standing to forgive sin. That’s what the teachers of the law were miffed about: “Only God can forgive sins!”, they said.

So how did Jesus respond to their challenge?  He said, “Yeah, and your point is?” Then he healed the crippled man just to make his point:

“So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. (Mark 2:10-12, NLT)

Now I would say that was a pretty convincing attribute of deity, wouldn’t you!

When you consider the claims Jesus made about himself, you’ve got to eliminate most of the nice-sounding, politically-correct things people say they believe about him.  In other words, Jesus can’t be just a good teacher, just a great moral leader, just a respected prophet, just a great figure of history.

With Jesus, you’ve got to eliminate “just” from your vocabulary.  The real, Biblical Jesus pulled those options off the table.  Nope—he was who he, himself, said he was: God the Son, Second Person of the Holy Trinity.  When you examine the evidence, you cannot honestly accept any other possibility.

The most important piece of evidence to me, however, is that of untold millions, if not billions of people, who have experienced dramatic life-changes over the past 2,000 years because of this man who proved himself to be God. And I was one of them. Like the paralyzed man, I, too, was healed and forgiven.  I have been forever changed by Jesus—and I will be eternally grateful!

Yep—no doubt about it: Jesus is God!

“The discrepancy between the depth and sanity of his moral teaching and the rampant megalomania which must lie behind his theological teaching unless he is indeed God has never been satisfactorily got over.”  ~C.S. Lewis

What If God Took Over?

You will have a chance this weekend to join with other believers in your place of fellowship to worship Jesus.  I hope you will be extra aware when you are in church raising your voice in praise just who it is you are worshiping when you sing out his name.

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21st Century Demons

Read: Mark 1

Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit began shouting, “Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One sent from God!” Jesus cut him short. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him. (Mark 1:23-26, NLT)

When did demons become extinct?  What I mean is, we read about them in Scripture and accept that they were part and parcel of Jesus’ war on Satan to bring Planet Earth back under the Creator’s dominion, but we think and act as if they don’t exist in twenty-first century America. We have medical and psychological explanations for everything that ails us these days, and either a pill or a professional to help us cope with our “disorders”. But I get the sense when I read the Gospels that some of today’s disorders are, to a greater or lesser degree, nothing more than demonic influences in disguise.

Now please, please, please, don’t misunderstand what I am saying.  I am not looking to find a devil under every rock.  Don’t go flushing your meds down the drain or calling your counselor an idiot.  Let’s stay balanced and Biblical as we explore the possibility of demonic activity in your world and mine. As C.S. Lewis warned in the preface to his book, The Screwtape Letters,

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.

Let’s not be guilty of either of those errors!  Having said that, I agree with what a twentieth-century English theologian by the name of Ronald Knox said, “It is so stupid of modern civilization to have given up believing in the devil when he is the only explanation of it.” If you didn’t get that, here’s how Martin Luther said it,

“Idiots, the lame, the blind, the dumb, are men in whom the devils have established themselves: and all the physicians who heal these infirmities, as though they proceed from natural causes, are ignorant blockheads.”

Look, I’m not saying the devil is the cause of every headache you get, or every cussword that slips from your lips, or every nasty thought that ricochets around your brain.  Nor am I trying to create fear in you that there are demons under your bed and they’re going to get you tonight while you sleep.  What I am saying is that if Jesus faced them—sometimes even in church—then demonic forces are alive and well in people’s lives today, wreaking all kinds of havoc.  And if Jesus took authority over them and drove them out with just a word—and if he passed that authority on to us—then perhaps we ought to learn to discern the presence of demons today and boldly use Jesus’ authority to boot them out of town just like he did.

I do recall reading some place that Jesus said driving out demons was a sign that we believe.

“No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil, not that he practices it, but he suffers from it.” ~Guy H. King

What If God Took Over?

There is obviously a great deal of competing information today on demons and demonic activity that feed the two extremes Lewis warned about: disbelief in their existence and unhealthy, excessive interest in them.  To learn more—which every Christian should, since Jesus said the demons had to submit to us—let me suggest the following plan:

First, study the Scriptures—especially the Gospels—to gain a foundational understanding of the devil, his demons, how they operate, and how Jesus dealt with them and how Jesus didn’t deal with them.  Never go beyond what the Bible says in forming your theology.

Second, I would encourage you to download and read the position paper entitled “Can Born-Again Christians Be Demon Possessed? You can find the pdf file at: http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/Position_Papers/index.cfm

Third, let me suggest this book to help fill in some of the details regarding the subject of demons: “Sense & Nonsense About Angels & Demons”.  It can be found at: http://www.christianbook.com/sense-nonsense-about-angels-demons/kenneth-boa/9780310254294/pd/254290?item_code=WW&netp_id=479066&event=ESRCN&view=details